Oh, I guess I should have read a little bit lower in the thread. Thanks.

Other than the games against Kentucky, UNLV, and Ohio U., looks very manageable compared to previous non-conference schedules. I think that's good in the sense that it doesn't destroy the confidence of a team that's probably a year or two away from contending.

goldhelmet wrote: Other than the games against Kentucky, UNLV, and Ohio U., looks very manageable compared to previous non-conference schedules. I think that's good in the sense that it doesn't destroy the confidence of a team that's probably a year or two away from contending.

Yea, just disappointed the PSU game will be on Thanksgiving eve when most of the on-campus students will be GONE!

RipCityPilot wrote:Honestly, most students here are not that jazzed up to play PSU anybody. I really don't know why.

I'm over it.

I will NEVER get over student apathy to the endeavors of their teammates, classmates, and school. It does not bode well for our school or country if today's students have adopted apathy as their cause!

Where is the documented activism and spirit that began with the students of over 100 years ago that made UP a great school to represent and call one's alma mater?

RipCityPilot wrote:Honestly, most students here are not that jazzed up to play PSU anybody. I really don't know why.

I'm over it.

I will NEVER get over student apathy to the endeavors of their teammates, classmates, and school. It does not bode well for our school or country if today's students have adopted apathy as their cause!

Where is the documented activism and spirit that began with the students of over 100 years ago that made UP a great school to represent and call one's alma mater?

Can you be Jingoistic about a school? Chauvanism means about the same thing...

I would be careful when you use apathy. I believe that most students do care and want the teams to do well. We all go to class with these people, too! But...

1) Not too many people ever seem to know when games happen (easy fix, right?).2) UP is, despite what any college rankings organization thinks, very rigorous. It is hard to keep good grades. I believe that as the university profile increases, and we have better students in the classroom, our spirit will lack a little because we are all trying to go balance our busy lives. I'm sure you have noticed that Thursday and Sunday games lack students, and it is because all papers and exams are Fridays and on Sundays we have homework and class the next day. This is in no way a knock on previous generations or other schools, but UP is wayyyyy different than U of O or even Gonzaga.3) Many students, myself included, really do care. A LOT. But, like I said, it is a matter of balance. Believe me, I go to most games and I like to be a proud student and cheer. But, please do not generalize all students here. Ask most students on this campus and they will tell you that they care. I guarantee it. I will grant to you the fact that the student spirit does need work, in my opinion.

Keep in mind the numbers game too. I will make a comparison between U of O and UP here:U of O:Student Tickets: 1,836Matt Knight Arena Capacity: 12,500U of O students: 24,447 Sold Out game: 7.5 % of students wentAverage crowd: 8,018 (proportionally: 1,177 students or 4.8% of students)

UP:Student Tickets: ~700 (I am going to estimate that the purple seats, as opposed to the bleachers, hold 3,500 people. With that in mind, I will estimate that there are 700 seats for students to come to the game because the student section is 20% of the purple seats. Diagram)Chies Center capacity: 5,000 (note: more seats than students)UP student population: 3,537 Sold Out UP game: 19-20% of students wentAverage crowd: no exact numbers so an estimate of 2,300 (is that fair?)Proportionally, our student section is therefore: 322 students went or 9.1% of students.

This is all based on a Saturday night game for both schools against a conference opponent other than a rival or "bigger game." You could say that 100 students go to each game (which is more accurate) and that would be 2.8% of students from UP. That small gap in percentages (2%!) is not a whole lot folks. I could name numerous reasons for the existence of that gap. Maybe our student section has a problem and maybe it doesn't. Who knows? It might look empty, but we have a smaller population base to draw from. I would be happy to go into detail of why comparing us to Gonzaga, BYU, or St. Mary's would be bad (like comparing us to U of O is bad), but only if asked.

Please find a problem with my analysis. I want to learn, actually.

In regards to PSU: we are completely different schools and it is really a forced rivalry if anything. It's like how PSU invented its rivalry with EWU last year. I want to beat them too. Believe me.

RipCityPilot wrote:I would be careful when you use apathy. I believe that most students do care and want the teams to do well. We all go to class with these people, too! But...

Well said.

Just thinking back to my student days on the Bluff, and taking another look at my transcripts, it would seem my priorities may have been a bit skewed toward partying and sports. Oh sure, the grades were good enough to enter graduate school, but probably because that institution recognized the “rigorous” nature of the UP education.

So based upon what you have written (not the numbers, as they caused dizziness), about Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday games……I look forward to seeing the first spirited turnout of students at the St. Mary’s game on Saturday January 19, 2013. It would be nice too if students could get excited about the Gonzaga game two days earlier, because we alums alone can’t hold our own against the many wearing red and blue.

I’m not going to get “over it,” because when talking to the players, they often mention how much their adrenalin flows, and they get “pumped-up” when there’s a loud student section behind them. But I will be more understanding of (some) student priorities. I’ve been to many games at other WCC institutions, and NOT including GU and BYU, the student turnout is not all that different than at UP.

I realize that I went over the top with the numbers. Basically, what I was trying to say was that, in terms of percentages, our students go to games at the same rate as bigger schools. So, it is not that our students "do not go." We are just average and given our numbers, it looks small and unenthusiastic.

I hope we can turn it around, though. I completely understand that adrenaline rush feeling that the players like. Gonzaga and St. Mary's basketball is a unique circumstance (I do not include BYU because they are different: 33,000 students different) that the rest of us try to emulate. The same could be said of UP soccer...

RipCityPilot wrote:I realize that I went over the top with the numbers.

I appreciated the numbers but I'm a numbers-oriented graduate of a rigorous institution. GO PILOTS!

I also had a major in a field that had a lot to do with statistics ( Physics)

But I also had a minor in History, and I read Disaraeli, who Said there are three kinds of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics.

I have no problem with the students who show up for the UP games, they did, after all, show up, even if they were a bit quiet.

My issue is with the folks who claim that they can't come to games becaiuse of the academic demands. Basically, I think the claim is bovine effluence.

There have been several big games where students showed up in greater numbers at a concert or dance. I didn't hear reports of a great overflow in the library.

And I have noticed over the last 20 years that in years that UP did well, student attendance has been greater. It can't possibly be a coincidence that in those years the faculty relaxes the academic demands on students.